Part 9 (1/2)

IV The eius Galba was born in the consulshi+p of M Valerius Messala, and Cn Lentulus, upon the ninth of the calends of January [24th Dece upon a hill, near Terracina, on the left-hand side of the road to Fundi 651 Being adopted by his step-noed his praenoius, until he arrived at the inity It is well known, that when he cae, to pay his respects to Augustus, the latter, pinching his cheek, said to hinity” Tiberius, likewise, being told that he would coe, exclaimed, ”Let hirandfather was offering sacrifice to (403) avert so, the entrails of the victile, and carried off into an oak-tree loaded with acorns Upon this, the soothsayers said, that the family would come to be masters of the empire, but not until , said, ”Ay, when a ainst Nero, nothing gave hi at that time to have a foal And whilst all others were shocked at the occurrence, as a arded it as aof his grandfather When he took upon him the manly habit, he dreamt that the Goddess Fortune said to him, ”I stand before your door weary; and unless I am speedily admitted, I shall fall into the hands of the first who co, when the door of the house was opened, he found a brazen statue of the Goddess, above a cubit long, close to the threshold, which he carried with slim to Tusculu consecrated it in an apartment of his house, he ever after worshi+pped it with a h but a very young man, he kept up an ancient but obsolete custom, and nohere observed, except in his own family, which was, to have his freedmen and slaves appear in a body before hi, to offer hist other liberal studies, he applied himself to the law He married Lepida 653, by who, he continued a er; nor could he be prevailed upon to rippina herself, at that time left aby the death of Domitius, who had employed all her blandishments to allure him to her embraces, while he was a married man; insomuch that Lepida's mother, when in company with several married women, rebuked her for it, and even went so far as to cuff her Most of all, he courted the e, heenriched by the hich she left at her death; in which she distinguished hiacy of fifty millions of sesterces But because the suth, it was reduced by her heir, Tiberius, to five hundred thousand: and even this he never received 655 VI Filling the great offices before the age required for it by law, during his praetorshi+p, at the celebration of games in honour of the Goddess Flora, he presented the new spectacle of elephants walking upon ropes He was then governor of the province of Aquitania for near a year, and soon afterwards took the consulshi+p in the usual course, and held it for six months 656 It so happened that he succeeded L Domitius, the father of Nero, and was succeeded by Salvius Otho, father to the e it between the sons of these two e of his future advance appointed by Caius Caesar to supersede Gaetulicus in his coions, he put a stop to their plaudits in a public spectacle, by issuing an order, ”That they should keep their hands under their cloaks” I verse became very common in the camp: Disce, miles, militare: Galba est, non Gaetulicus

Learn, soldier, now in arms to use your hands, 'Tis Galba, not Gaetulicus, commands

With equal strictness, he would allow of no petitions for leave of absence fro, by constant exercise; and having quickly reduced within their own limits the barbarians who hadinto Germany, he so far recommended hist the innumerable troops drawn froher couished hi an escort, with a shi+eld in his hand 658, and running at the side of the eether

VII Upon the news of Caius's death, though many earnestly pressed hi the empire, he chose rather to be quiet On this account, he was in great favour with Claudius, and being received into the nuood opinion, that the expedition to Britain 659 was for soht indisposition He governed Africa, as pro-consul, for two years; being chosen out of the regular course to restore order in the province, which was in great disorder from civil dissensions, and the alaruished by great strictness and equity, even in matters of sed with selling, in a great scarcity of corn, a bushel of wheat, which was all he had left, for a hundred denarii, he forbad him to be relieved by any body, when he caly he died of faht before him about some beast of burden, the ownershi+p of which was claiht on both sides, and it being difficult to come at the truth, he ordered the beast to be led to a pond at which he had used to be watered, with his headthere removed, that he should be the property of the person who

VIII For his achievements, both at this time in Africa, and formerly in Germany, he received the triu The Fifteen, another in the college of titius, and a third austals; and fron, he lived for the most part in retirement He never went abroad (405) sohiold, ready at hand; until at last, at the ti in the town of Fundi, the province of Hispania Tarraconensis was offered him After his arrival in the province, whilst he was sacrificing in a temple, a boy who attended with a censer, becaarded by soovern one: that is, that he would succeed Nero And not long after, a thunderbolt falling into a lake in Cantabria 660, twelve axes were found in it; a overned the province during eight years, his ad of an uncertain and capricious character At first he was active, vigorous, and indeed excessively severe, in the punish committed some fraud in the way of his business, he cut off his hands, and nailed them to his counter Another, who had poisoned an orphan, to whouardian, and next heir to the estate, he crucified On this delinquent i out that he was a Roman citizen, he affected to afford hiate his punishher than usual, and painted white, to be erected for hiave himself up to a life of indolence and inactivity, fro Nero any occasion of jealousy, and because, as he used to say, ”nobody was obliged to render an account of their leisure hours” He was holding a court of justice on the circuit at New Carthage 661, when he received intelligence of the insurrection in Gaul 662; and while the lieutenant of Aquitania was soliciting his assistance, letters were brought frohts of mankind, and put himself at their head to relieve the demur, he accepted the invitation, from a mixture of fear and hope For he had discovered that private orders had been sent by Nero to his procurators in the province to get (407) hied to the enterprise, as well by several auspices and oood, family The more so, because the priest of Jupiter at Clunia 663, admonished by a dream, had discovered in the recesses of the temple some verses similar to those in which she had delivered her prophecy These had also been uttered by a girl under divine inspiration, about two hundred years before The iive the world a lord andhis seat on the tribunal, therefore, as if there was no other business than the ies of a number of persons who had been condemned and put to death by Nero, set up before him, whilst a noble youth stood by, who had been banished, and who Balearic isles; and la thereupon unanimously saluted by the title of Emperor, he publicly declared himself ”only the lieutenant of the senate and people of Roions and auxiliary troops a of one legion, tings of horse, and three cohorts Out of the e and prudence, he formed a kind of senate, hom to advise upon all matters of importance, as often as occasion should require He likewise chose several young men of the equestrian order, ere to be allowed the privilege of wearing the gold ring, and, being called ”The Reserve,” should ionary soldiers He likewise issued procla all to rise in arms unanimously, and aid the common cause, by all the ways anda tohich he had pitched upon for awas found, of antique workraved the Goddess Victory with a trophy Presently after, a shi+p of Alexandria arrived at Dertosa 664, loaded with arle sailor or passenger (408) on board From this incident, nobody entertained the least doubt but the war upon which they were entering was just and honourable, and favoured likewise by the Gods; when all on a sudden the whole design was exposed to failure One of the tings of horse, repenting of the violation of their oath to Nero, attempted to desert him upon his approach to the camp, and ith some difficulty kept in their duty And some slaves who had been presented to him by a freedman of Nero's, on purpose to h a narrow passage to the bath Being overheard to encourage one another not to lose the opportunity, they were called to an account concerning it; and recourse being had to the torture, a confession was extorted froers were followed by the death of Vindex, at which being extreed, as if fortune had quite forsaken hi an end to his own life; but receiving advice by his ers from Rome that Nero was slain, and that all had taken an oath to him as emperor, he laid aside the title of lieutenant, and took upon hieneral's cloak, and a dagger hanging from his neck before his breast, he did not resua, until Nyuards at Rome, with the two lieutenants, Fonteius Capito in Germany, and Claudius Macer in Africa, who opposed his advancement, were all put down

XII Rumours of his cruelty and avarice had reached the city before his arrival; such as that he had punished so him readily, by the i their walls; and had put to death the governors and procurators with their wives and children: likewise that a golden crown, of fifteen pounds weight, taken out of the temple of Jupiter, hich he was presented by the people of Tarracona, he had melted down, and had exacted froht This report of him was confirmed and increased, as soon as he entered the town For some seamen who had been taken fro the troops by Nero, he obliged to return to their for to co to the les and standards, he not only dispersed them by a body of horse, but likewise decimated them He also disbanded a cohort of Ger euard, and upon many occasions found very faithful; and sent theratuity, pretending that they were more inclined to favour the advanceardens they enca ridiculous stories were also related of him; but whether with or without foundation, I know not; such as, that when a more sumptuous entertainroan: that when one of the stewards presented him with an account of his expenses, he reached hiuence; and when Canus, the piper, had played much to his satisfaction, he presented him, with his own hand, five denarii taken out of his pocket

XIII His arrival, therefore, in toas not very agreeable to the people; and this appeared at the next public spectacle For when the actors in a farce began a well-known song, Venit, io, Sie comes; all the spectators, with one voice, went on with the rest, repeating and acting the first verse several times over

XIV He possessed himself of the imperial poith h he gavean excellent prince: but these were not so grateful to the people, as his overned by three favourites, who, because they lived in the palace, and were constantly about hiues These were titus Vinius, who had been his lieutenant in Spain, a man of insatiable (410) avarice; Cornelius Laco, who, from an assessor to the prince, was advanced to be prefect of the pretorian guards, a person of intolerable arrogance, as well as indolence; and his freede of wearing the gold ring, and the use of the cognohest honour within the reach of any person of the equestrian order 666 He resigned himself so ioverned in every thing according to the capricious impulse of their vices and tempers, and his authority was so much abused by them, that the tenor of his conduct was not very consistent with itself At one tial, at another, ent, than became a prince who had been chosen by the people, and was so far advanced in years He condemned some men of the first rank in the senatorian and equestrian orders, upon a very slight suspicion, and without trial He rarely granted the freedo to such as had three children, only to one or two; and that with great difficulty, and only for a lies petitioned to have a sixth decury added to their number, he not only denied theranted the of the year

XV It was thought that he likewise intended to reduce the offices held by senators and men of the equestrian order, to a term of two years' continuance; and to bestow the to accept therants of Nero he recalled, saving only the tenth part of thehts; with orders, that if players or wrestlers had sold what had been foriven them, it should be exacted fro, no doubt, spent the money, were not in a condition to pay But on the other hand, he suffered his attendants and freedive away the revenue of the state, or immunities from taxes, and to punish the innocent, or pardon criminals, at pleasure Nay, when the Roman people were very claellinus, two of the (411) st all the emissaries of Nero, he protected them, and even bestowed on Halotus one of the best procurations in his disposal And as to Tigellinus, he even reprimanded the people for their cruelty by a proclamation

XVI By this conduct, he incurred the hatred of all orders of the people, but especially of the soldiery For their coer than usual, upon their taking the oath to hiood, frequently bragging, ”that it was his custom to choose his soldiers, not buy theainst hiuards he alarer and unworthy treat overnment, and favourers of Nymphidius But ainst hi defrauded of the rewards due to them for the service they had rendered in the insurrection of the Gauls under Vindex They were, therefore, the first who ventured to break into openupon the calends [the 1st] of January, to take any oath of allegiance, except to the senate; and they immediately dispatched deputies to the pretorian troops, to let them know, ”they did not like the emperor who had been set up in Spain,” and to desire that ”they would ht meet with the approbation of all the arence of this, ie, as for having no children, he i persons of rank, who cai Licinianus, a youth of noble descent and great talents, for whoard, that he had appointed him in his will the heir both of his estate and na him to the camp, adopted him in the presence of the asse any mention of a donative This circumstance afforded the better opportunity to Marcus Salvius Otho of acco his object, six days after the adoption

XVIII Many re of his reign, which forewarned hih which he passed in his way froht and left of the roads; and one of these, which was a bull, being maddened with the stroke of the axe, broke the rope hich it was tied, and running straight against his chariot, with his fore-feet elevated, bespattered hiuard, being pushed forward by the crowd, had very nearly wounded hi the city and, afterwards, the palace, he elco of cattle These signs of ill-fortune were followed by some that were still more apparently such Out of all his treasures he had selected a necklace of pearls and jewels, to adorn his statue of Fortune at Tusculu to hiust place, he consecrated it to the Capitoline Venus; and next night, he drea that she had been defrauded of the present intended her, and threatening to resuiven him Terrified at this denunciation, at break of day he sent forward some persons to Tusculuht avert the displeasure of the Goddess; and when he hi but so by, holding a little incense in a glass, and some wine in an earthern pot It was re upon the calends of January, the chaplet fell fro the pullets for o Piso, when he was to harangue the soldiers, the seat which he used upon those occasions, through the neglect of his attendants, was not placed, according to custom, upon his tribunal; and in the senate-house, his curule chair was set with the back forward

XIX The day before he was slain, as he was sacrificing in the ur warned hiuard, for that he was in danger from assassins, and that they were near at hand Soon after, he was informed, that Otho was in possession of the pretorian cah most of his friends advised hiht quell the tu more than keep close within the palace, and secure hiionary soldiers, ere quartered in different parts about the city He put on a linen coat ofat the saainst the points of sotempted out by false reports, which the conspirators had purposely spread to induce him to venture abroad-so him that the tumult had ceased, the ratulate him, resolved to continue firm in their obedience-he went forward to meet the that he had killed Otho, he asked him, ”By what authority?” and proceeded as far as the Foru their way through the crowd of citizens, upon seeing hi up to him, now abandoned by all his attendants, they put him to death

XX Some authors relate, that upon their first approach he cried out, ”What do you mean, fellow-soldiers? I am yours, and you are enerality of writers relate, that he offered his throat to the, ”Do your work, and strike, since you are resolved upon it” It is remarkable, that not one of those ere at hand, ever made any attearded the summons, except a troop of Ger the a sickness which prevailed in the ca not well acquainted with the town, they had taken a circuitous route He was slain near the Curtian Lake 667, and there left, until a co fro down the load which he carried, cut off his head There being upon it no hair, by which he ht hold it, he hid it in the boso his thuave it to the drudges and slaves who attended the soldiers; and they, fixing it upon the (414) point of a spear, carried it in derision round the ca, ”You take your fill of joy in your old age” They were irritated to this pitch of rude banter, by a report spread a few days before, that, upon soorous, he replied, Eti th, as yet, has suffered no decay

A freeded to Nero's faold pieces, and threw it into the place where, by Galba's order, his patron had been put to death At last, after soius buried it, with the rest of his body, in his own gardens near the Aurelian Way

XXI In person he was of a good size, bald before, with blue eyes, and an aquiline nose; and his hands and feet were so distorted with the gout, that he could neither wear a shoe, nor turn over the leaves of a book, or so ht side, which hung down to that degree, that it ith difficulty kept up by a bandage

XXII He is reported to have been a great eater, and usually took his breakfast in the winter-ti the fragst the attendants In his lust, he was more inclined to the male sex, and such of them too as were old It is said of hiht hily before coed of him to remove all impediments, and then took him aside into a private apartment

XXIII He perished in the seventy-third year of his age, and the seventh n 669 The senate, as soon as they could with safety, ordered a statue to be erected for him upon the naval column, in that part of the Forum where he (415) was slain But Vespasian cancelled the decree, upon a suspicion that he had sent assassins from Spain into Judaea to murder him

GALBA was, for a private man, the nity He valued hi descended from the family of the Servii, but still more upon his relation to Quintus Catulus Capitolinus, celebrated for integrity and virtue He was likewise distantly related to Livia, the wife of Augustus; by whose interest he was preferred fronity of consul; and who left hi, and his aversion to all superfluity or excess, were construed into avarice as soon as he became emperor; whence Plutarch observes, that the pride which he took in his temperance and economy was unseasonable While he endeavoured to reform the profusion in the public expenditure, which prevailed in the reign of Nero, he ran into the opposite extreme; and it is objected to hinity in a degree consistent even with decency He was not sufficiently attentive either to his own security or the tranquillity of the state, when he refused to pay the soldiers the donative which he had promised them This breach of faith seerity; and it contributed more to his ruin than even the odium which he incurred by the open venality and rapaciousness of his favourites, particularly Vinius

A SALVIUS OTHO

(416)

I The ancestors of Otho were originally of the town of Ferentum, of an ancient and honourable family, and, indeed, one of the randfather, M Salvius Otho (whose father was a Roht, but his mother of mean extraction, for it is not certain whether she was free-born), by the favour of Livia Augusta, in whose house he had his education, was her than the praetorshi+p His father, Lucius Otho, was by the reat families, and so dearly beloved by Tiberius, and so much resembled him in his features, that most people believed Tiberius was his father He behaved with great strictness and severity, not only in the city offices, but in the pro-consulshi+p of Africa, and soe to punish with death some soldiers in Illyricuing their enerals to the sword, as proainst Claudius He ordered the execution to take place in the front of the cah he knew they had been advanced to higher ranks in the army by Claudius, on that very account By this action he acquired fame, but lessened his favour at court; which, however, he soon recovered, by discovering to Claudius a design upon his life, carried on by a Roht 671, and which he had learnt from some of his slaves For the senate ordered a statue of him to be erected in the palace; an honour which had been conferred but upon very few before hinity of a patrician, cohest ter with these words: ”A man, than whom I don't so (417) much as wish to have children that should be better” He had two sons by a very noble woer called Marcus, who had the sahter, whom he contracted to Drusus, Gere

II The emperor Otho was born upon the fourth of the calends of May [28th April], in the consulshi+p of Camillus Aruntius and Domitius Aenobarbus 672 He was from his earliest youth so riotous and wild, that he was often severely scourged by his father He was said to run about in the night-time, and seize upon any one he met, as either drunk or too feeble to make resistance, and toss him in a blanket 673 After his father's death, to make his court the more effectually to a freedworeat favour, he pretended to be in love with her, though she was old, and alraces, he soon becaeniality of his disposition to that of the emperor or, as some say, by the reciprocal practice of reat a sway at court, that when atae sum of money, to procure his pardon; before he had quite effected it, he scrupled not to introduce hi, by means of this woman, insinuated hined for the murder of his mother, entertained them both at a very splendid feast, to prevent suspicion Poppaea Sabina, for whom Nero entertained such a violent passion that he had taken her from her husband 674 and entrusted her to hi her And not satisfied with obtaining her favours, he loved her so extravagantly, that he could not with patience bear Nero for his rival It is certainly believed that he not only refused admittance to those ere sent by Nero to fetch her, but that, on one (418) occasion, he shut hi prayers and ain as entrusted to his keeping His pretendeddissolved, he was sent lieutenant into Lusitania This treatht sufficiently severe, because harsher proceedings ht, which, notwithstanding, at last ca distich:- Cur Otho mentitus sit, quaeritis, exul honore?

Uxoris moechus caeperat esse suae

You ask why Otho's banish'd? Know, the cause Coainst all rules of fashi+onable life, The rogue had dared to sleep with his oife